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1830-1869 : Sources for Aboriginal Studies

1830


Lycett, Joseph, ca. 1775-1828. Drawings of the natives & scenery of Van Diemens Land, 1830 [picture] [ca. 1820] 1 album (20 watercolours) ; 34 x 23.3 cm. (National Library of Australia)

Dawson, Robert (1782-1866). The present state of Australia : a description of the country, its advantages and prospects, with reference to emigration : and a particular account of the manners, customs, and condition of its Aboriginal inhabitants. London : Smith, Elder, 1830.

1831

Dawson, Robert (1782-1866). The present state of Australia : a description of the country, its advantages and prospects, with reference to emigration : and a particular account of the manners, customs, and condition of its Aboriginal inhabitants. London : Smith, Elder, 1831. 2nd Edition


1832


R. v. Boatman or Jackass and Bulleye. Supreme Court of New South Wales. Dowling J., 10 February 1832. Source: Dowling, Select Cases, Archives Office of N.S.W., 2/3466. The prisoner, an aboriginal Black native had been committed for trial by country magistrates charged with stealing a considerable number of sheep at Hunter's River the property of Mr Palmer. [Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899. Published by the Division of Law Macquarie University]

 

Raymond, James (Compiler). The New South Wales Calendar and General Post Office Directory, 1832.

Please see excerpt for description of Great North Road, Branch of the Great North Road leading through Wollombi, through Maitland to the Williams River, Port Stephens, the Manning and Port Macquarie, Road from Wollarobba to Upper William and Chichester Rivers, Road from Newcastle through Maitland to Great North Road at Patrick's Plains and Road from Brisbane Water to Maitland. pp.124 - 154 Click here for PDF version (840KB) Mentions Aboriginal place names.

 

1833

 

Lieutenant Breton in the Hunter Region. (58MB PDF file - Beware this is a large file recommended for fast broadband users) It has been OCRed and so can be text searched.

Contains 94 pages of exerpts relating to the flora and fauna of Newcastle, Maitland and the Hunter Region with many references to Aboriginal people and descriptions of the landscape. Chapter 2 pp. 86 - 137 and Chapter 4 pp. 186 - 299.

Breton, William Henry, d.1887. Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia and Van Diemen's Land, during the years 1830, 1831, 1832, and 1833 by Lieut. Breton. London : Richard Bentley, 1833. Cultural Coll/RB AUROUSS 994.02/174 

1834


Lang, John Dunmore, 1799-1878. An historical and statistical account of New South Wales, both as a penal settlement and as a British colony / by John Dunmore Lang. London : Cochrane and M'Crone, 1834.Vol. 2 Chapter 2 pp. 85-126. (3.84 MB PDF) or (0.99MB PDF OCR version) [Coquun-Hunter River Site]

Threlkeld, L. E. (Lancelot Edward), 1788-1859. An Australian grammar : comprehending the principles and natural rules of the language, as spoken by the Aborigines in the vicinity of Hunter's River, Lake Macquarie, &c. New South Wales / by L.E. Threlkeld. Sydney : Printed by Stephens and Stokes, 1834.

R. v. Jackey. Source: Australian, 6 May 1834. An aboriginal native named Jacky Jacky, committed to take trial for the murder of a white man at Mr. Mossman's farm on Williams's River. [Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899. Published by the Division of Law Macquarie University]

1835


R. v. Monkey and others. Supreme Court of New South Wales. Burton J., 11 February 1835. Source: Sydney Herald, 12 February 1835. Aboriginal Natives arraigned for a burglary in the dwelling-house of Mr. Alfred Hill Jaques. of Brisbane Water. Rev. Mr. Threlkeld, of Lake Macquarie, Missionary to the Aborigines, was sworn as interpreter. [Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899. Published by the Division of Law Macquarie University]

1836


Threlkeld, L. E. (Lancelot Edward), 1788-1859. An Australian spelling book in the language as spoken by the Aborigines in the vicinity of Hunter's River, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Sydney : Printed by Stephens and Stokes George Street, 1836. (761 KB PDF) [Courtesy of the National Library of Australia, Rex Nan Kivell Collection NK1136.]

[Image] Mickie, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle Tribe from Sketches of Aborigines of New South Wales, ca. 1836 by W.H. Fernyhough. [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

[Image] Boardman, Lake Macquarie Tribe from Sketches of Aborigines of New South Wales, ca. 1836 by W.H. Fernyhough. [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

[Image] Mickie, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle Tribe from Collection of portraits, predominately of Aborigines of New South Wales and Tasmania, ca. 1817-1849. [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

[Image] Jemmy, Newcastle tribe [ca. 1836] from Collection of portraits, predominately of Aborigines of New South Wales and Tasmania, ca. 1817-1849. [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

[Image] Boardman, Lake Macquarie Tribe [ca. 1836] from Collection of portraits, predominately of Aborigines of New South Wales and Tasmania, ca. 1817-1849. [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

1837


R. v. Wombarty. Supreme Court of New South Wales. Burton J., 14 August 1837. Source: Sydney Gazette, 19 August 1837. Threlkeld and McGill were present at this trial to assist the defendant Wombarty of the Port Macquarie Tribe. [Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899. Published by the Division of Law Macquarie University]

New South Wales. Aborigines: Reports of the mission to the Aborigines at Lake Macquarie, and at Wellington Valley / L. E. Threlkeld ; William Watson, James Gunther. [857KB PDF]
Shelf Location: AUCH - RB/COLL Q305.89915 NEWS-3
[Digitised and Threlkeld Report transcribed by Gionni Di Gravio, March 2005]


1838


See Henry William Hemsworth Huntington's account relating to Myall Creek Massacre in 1838.

1842


Article "The Blacks" from The Hunter River Gazette, 22nd January 1842. (140 KB PDF)

1843


Backhouse, James. Chapters 33-35 from A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies. London : Hamilton, Adams, 1843. pp.368 - 414.(3.43 MB PDF)

1845


Wilkes, Charles. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition.Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845.
Vol. 2 pp. 245 - 256 Visit to Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, meeting with Dr Brooks, Threlkeld and Biraban (M'Gill) (480 KB PDF)

Another version is available on the website of The United State Exploring Expedition, 1838 - 1842 (Smithsonian Institution Libraries Digital Collection) with a slightly different pagination:

Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Volume 2 by Charles Wilkes. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1844.
Volume 2 Chapter VIII pp. 260 - 271. (823 KB PDF)

Click here for enlarged images of the Opossum Skin Cloak and Long Handled Narrow Club collected on the Expedition. Click here to search their database for more objects.

"Vocabulary of the Allyn River Black's Language", ca. 1845. A small booklet containing a vocabulary of words used by the Australian Aboriginal people of the Allyn River district in the Hunter Valley, NSW.  [Title Entry ] [Large Format Scans and transcriptions: Page 1 Page 2 Transcript Page 3 Transcript Page 4 Page 5 Transcript Page 6 Transcript Page 7 Transcript Page 8  Page 9 Page 10] [Courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales]

1846


See Henry William Hemsworth Huntington's account relating to murder of Andrew Menzies.

Article from The Sydney Morning Herald 1st May 1846 relating to death of M'Gill (Biraban) in Newcastle on the 14th April 1846. (264 KB PDF)

N.S.W. Legislative Council Committee - Select Committee on the Condition of the Aborigines. 1846 New South Wales. Aborigines. Replies to a Circular Letter, addressed to the Clergy, of all Denominations, By Order of The Select Committee on the Condition of the Aborigines.Ordered, By the Council, To be Printed 31st October 1846. Sydney: Printed by W.W. Davies, At the Government Printing Office. [Archive shelf location B9841-B9842] The following replies relating to the local region transcribed by Margaret Fryer and Gionni di Gravio (HTML file): Reverend C.P.N. Wilton, (Newcastle); Reverend George K. Rusden, (East Maitland); Reverend George Augustus Middleton, (Morpeth); Reverend Robert Thorley Bolton, (Hexham); Reverend John Jennings Smith, (Paterson); Reverend Joseph Cooper, (Falbrook and Jerry’s Plains); Reverend William Ross, (Paterson); Reverend Robert Stewart, (Newcastle).

Hale, Horatio. United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838,1839, 1840, 1841, 1842.Under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Ethnography and Philology by Horation Hale, Philologist of the Expedition. [Philadelphia]: Lea and Blanchard, 1846. Excerpt "The Languages of Australia" pp.479-531. ( 3.04 MB PDF)

Another version is available on the website of The United State Exploring Expedition, 1838 - 1842 (Smithsonian Institution Libraries Digital Collection):  

Hale, Horatio. Ethnology and Philology by Horatio Hale. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1846.
Philological Part. The Languages of Australia pp. 479 - 531. ( 2.32 MB PDF)   

Tindale's "Aboriginal Tribes", under Geawegalsays: "Northern tributaries of the Hunter River to Murru-rundi; at Muswellbrook, Aberdeen, Scone, and Mount Royal Range. Affiliated with the coastal Worimi. The grammar and vocabulary published by Hale (1845), following Threl-keld (1834), relates principally to this tribe. The ascription of it to Kamilaroi by Hale is an unexplained error, although the languages are closely related. Hale indicated the dominance of unvoiced consonants in the two languages he studied, hence the best spelling of this tribal name could well be Keawekal or Keawaikal ('no sayers')."

1850


Threlkeld, L. E. (Lancelot Edward), 1788-1859. A key to the structure of the Aboriginal language : being an analysis of the particles used as affixes, to form the various modifications of the verbs : shewing the essential powers, abstract roots, and other peculiarities of the language spoken by the Aborigines in the vicinity of Hunter River, Lake Macquarie, etc., New South Wales : together with comparisons of Polynesian and other dialects. Sydney : Printed by Kemp and Fairfax, 1850. (4.60 MB PDF) [University of Newcastle Rare Books: 499.15 THRE-1]

c.1850s


Aboriginal Songs from the 1850s: "Kilaben Bay Song" and "Women's Rondo" (Awabakal language) from The New Oxford Book of Australian Verse Edited by Les Murray. Melbourne: OUP, 1986. pp.36-37. (111KB PDF) Les Murray wishes to acknowledge the late Percy Haslam, who brought the songs to his attention. We wish to thank both Les Murray and the Oxford University Press for kind permission to reproduce these Awabakal Songs online.

1853


Frederick Terry (1827 - 1869) Newcastle From the Nobby (1853/55) Photographed by Bruce Turnbull [Courtesy Newcastle Region Art Gallery]

Frederick Terry (1827 - 1869) The Nobbies from Newcastle (1853/1855) Photographed by Bruce Turnbull [Courtesy Newcastle Region Art Gallery]

1854


Article "The Last of the Newcastle Tribe" from the Maitland Mercury 21st June 1854. (183 KB PDF)

1855


Story of the Kangaroo within Nobbys was recorded by the Rev L.E. Threlkeld in the Christian Herald, 17th February 1855, Vol.III, p.5-6. [Published in Australian Reminiscences & Papers of L.E.Threlkeld, Missionary to the Aborigines, 1824-1859. 2 vols, ed. Niel Gunson. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1974:65] (Coal River Website)

1856


Ridley, William. Gurre Kamilaroi : or Kamilaroi sayings; the engravings by W. Mason. Sydney: Printed at the Empire General Steam Printing Office, 1856. (1.16 MB PDF)

1857


Askew, John. A voyage to Australia & New Zealand including a visit to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Hunter's River, Newcastle, Maitland and Auckland : with a summary of the progress and discoveries made in each colony from its founding to the present time by a steerage passenger, John Askew. London : Simpkin Marshall, 1857.

Read Askew's Observations of Hunter's River and a trip along the Maitland Road on pp. 237-316. [5.69 MB PDF File]

1858


Threlkeld, L.E. “Language of the Australian Aborigines” in Waugh’s Australian Almanac for the Year 1858. Sydney: James Waugh, 1858 pp.60-80. (771 KB PDF)